Water Balance: Achieving Sustainable Development Through a Water Assessment and Management Plan

If water is to be managed in a sustainable way, the planners and managers must know how much there is and how much of it is needed, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions. The report provides the guidance, methods, data, and analyses needed to assess water availability and needs in micro watersheds. It shows how to prepare short-, medium-, and long-term water investment and management plans on the basis of volume of surface and groundwater within a watershed and the needs of agriculture, people, and livestock. It offers a practical approach based on real-life assessments that have helped planners decide on investments to develop and manage water.